Arrived in Cochin Saturday

We've arrived in Cochin after a 12-hr flight and then a hair-raising taxi ride, passing one pedestrian casualty on the way (surrounded -both the responsible vehicle and the casualty - by a large crowd). We are staying in a homestay in Fort Cochin, which is quiet with a garden full of birds and exotic trees.

Today we saw the old Jewish quarter with a Dutch Palace with wonderful murals depicting scenes from Hindu Mythology, the outside of the old Synagogue (closed for Purim), and the Old Spice Market, full of small shops where we bought cool cotton clothes for more comfortable travelling.

We had lunch at a lovely fish restaurant by the estuary, and watched dolphins, terns, sea eagles, black kites and an Indian pond heron on a post only a yard from us. We're now home resting from the heat, and thinking how to get cooler.

It is 95F and hot even by local standards for the time of year. We are heading for the hills and some cooling breezes tomorrow, and visiting a bird sanctuary on the way we hope.